FEATURE: RecordKingz Interview (Part 2)

RECORDKINGZ: The Interview

What attracted you to start selling records?

Myself and Simon from the creators wanted studio equipment back in the day And at the time we were quite young and had no income, so we had the idea to do a record show in Kingston. We sold out, people seemed to love it almost had no records left. We went out bought new samplers with the funds we got from some old vinyl. Even before then, I can remember being a kid on a BMX trading and swapping records with people from the age of 13. My older brother was a rock n roll DJ and I had seen record dealers coming to my house as a kid. I think my brother and his friend gave me my first record and turntable.

What attracted you to producing?

I was a scratch DJ from the age of about 13 or 14 creating sounds on the turntables , my love just grew and to be honest first time I heard an official 'break beat' as we used to call a break back in the day I was just hooked. I can remember my first break and funk records like Gordon’s war soundtrack and Donald Byrd places and spaces and I also got hooked into Kool And The Gang and James brown productions and that was it nothing has changed I just keep discovering new world genres of music even today

How long have you been doing both for?

Started to DJ as a kid in Kingston on the Cambridge estate around 13 or 14, Moved into beat making at about 17 years old as samples sounds just really fascinated me

When did you start collecting records?

Well I can remember buying knights of the turntables techno scratch which must have been 84 - 85, Sugar Hill Label Like Adventure of grandmaster flash, man parrish boogie down Bronx but I had other records from the vinyl bargain bins even before this period

When did you start producing and for who?

In the real early days, myself and Simon from the creators and DJ Dren where called J.A.S. Productions as in Julian, Adrian and Simon. I must have been 17 and those where the fun days going to the studio and creating sounds for the first time shortly after I met E-Tru and MC Delerious from Hackney and Tottenham and over the next couple of years the creators have a master plan record was born on the Blindside label.

Where do you find your records!You may need a whole page for this one Lol, a question I get asked a lot but to give an honest answer I’d say my eye and my ear are more important than where I go diggin’ for vinyl , put me anywhere with old 60s 70s and 80s records and a portable turntable and I can find bangers.

I been in shops where I found 80 records and other people have been struggling to find half a dozen and I start giving them records out of my pile as I feel so guilty they not found the gems. saying that I have been a lot of places diggin for vinyl,  Russia, USA (Around 30 different states), Canada, Poland, Hungary, Switzerland, France, Germany, Holland , Belgium , India , Latvia, Norway, Denmark, Austria.

What record have you found that has been so weird and outlandish to the point you've been confused?

Oh that’s easy an Irish folk flute and panpipe folk album which should have been awful by rights but oh was I wrong I don’t even know what made me pick up this nasty looking record.

It looked like Brendan shine or the Dubliners which I’m sure many will love ,but not us Beatheads 'sounds like some crazy Irish hip hop madness mixed with De Wolfe library flavors'

Who was your first ever record producer customer?
Man there was a whole bunch all around the same time, Buckwild and lord finesse where are the insane diggers when I was living out in the states for a while and when I fly in they just find me in a shop or on the street somewhere it was insane they were everywhere digging also DJ Riz 'Flipsquad', DJ Mayhem, DJ Spinna and from the UK we used to sell to I.G. Culture , 4 Hero , Mark Pritchard and a bunch of others.

How did you become established as the man with the beats, what was your journey to that status?
Hanging around Rawkus label in New York was the big break I think and DJ mayhem radio show in N.Y. meeting everyone who was anyone on the rap scene and they used to test me on which samples they were using and id pull peoples cards.

Mos def and Talib wanted to work with us through Hi Tec, who we had met and played our beats too around the same time it was a new York thing and us being kids from London you would never have thought but I suppose the word just spread.

there was no social networks like Facebook and twitter back then that people where using so I’d always jump on a plane and just go meet people which helped me advance my music and get my foot in the door for vinyl , back then I was trading breaks for special hip hop like show vinyl , instrumentals and promos only the artists had.

How did these producers find you or how did you first meet the likes of Just Blaze, Alchemist, Mobb deep etc.
Well I went to L.A. and worked on two songs with evidence one for the creators album and one on dilated peoples  album which I’m sure many don’t realise i have a track on the dilated peoples album expanding man, so the connection with alchemist was made there straight away and alchemist connected me with Mobb deep so its like a chain reaction and i got the pleasure of meeting just blaze later on at his Bassline studio

Who's been your favourite to work with?

Being a Mobb Deep fan and driving overnight to Paris to meet alchemist and Mobb deep in the studio was insane originally it was meant to be a Havoc song , but Prodigy came into the studio kind of said nothing and just picked up the pad and started writing and at that moment the goose bumps kicked in it, almost felt like euphoria as I followed these guys and been a fan ever since they made peer pressure back in 1992.

And what films or TV productions have you worked with?

Anything from the BBC , Hugo Boss , Banksy 'Exit Through The Gift Shop' , Cohen Brothers we seemed to have be lucky there seems our music has gone down well on the TV.

What's your favourite song from your album "Heavyweight"?

I don’t like to choose one to be honest as everyone I worked with on the project was amazing but if I had to choose it would be Mobb deep or Beatnuts.

 What's your all-time  favourite rap song/artist?

I have to mention Marley Marl , Pete Rock , all D.I.T.C. , Dr Dre , DJ Premier,  KRS one and Rakim. For the new generation I’d say Alchemist , Just blaze , Ludacris , Bad Meets Evil.

What rappers are you feeling the most at the moment and why?

For the last 10 years it’s been Ludacris , and I don’t think I’m a massive fan of that style of music but every time I hear him rap it makes me want to smile , Redman has also had that same effect on me over the years.

Releasing any material in the future from you or for others?

Most definitely there is a project coming out that chess move cartel and 730 promo putting together , we taking it back to the roots and pressing vinyl again, plus we going to do super high quality digital files none of this low fi mp3 action where half the dynamics in the song are missing including dirt and analog tone.

Any advice for up and coming producers?

Be creative , research how your favourite producers make their music , be original in this day and age the rules are out the door the last beat I made was 144bpm programmed at half time which sounded like a dub step beat with a more b boy head nod feel and samples.

as after all that’s what I do best and you have to play to your strength and not weakness and also put your own spin on it or you won’t stand out from the rest.

also YouTube videos for tutorials on whatever software or hardware you using and yes expect some to be rubbish but even myself have found the solution to my problem there recently

and last but not least get your diggin on , check out that old vinyl for samples and just great music , I mean look a Dr. Dre he collects samples but it’s rare he uses one a lot of the time he replays then or plays over the top of them to make the sound big.

Which song that has been produced using one of your beats is your favourite?

Hard margin, The Music, Heat, Kronkite are tunes I definitely feel proud to have worked on and made.

Where are you based, is there a shop?
www.recordkingz.com on the galactic internet and coming soon on www.chessmovemusic.com

And do you take work experience students. .
no because no one can handle working for me , I’m either a throwback caveman that likes everything done my way or you get verbally clumped or they just enjoy hanging out so much that no work gets done , so i do everything myself and i mean everything and on top of that people forget im a full time parent since 2001

It doesn’t get more major that this.